Episode 25b, VS7.5 - Repeat
by Voyager Season 7.5
Summary: B'Elanna is home early, and Tom has a plan.


Voyager Virtual SEASON 7.5  
  
  
  
REPEAT   
  
By Rocky  
  
B'Elanna let herself into their quarters, smiling in anticipation. After weeks   
of working conflicting shifts, she and her husband would finally have an evening   
free to spend together. Miral should be long since asleep for the night, and   
there were no slipstream problems, no aggressive aliens or interstellar   
conflicts, no extra Sickbay shifts--she smiled again as she wondered just what   
Tom would have come up with. A new holodeck scenario, perhaps, or maybe they'd   
just spend the time in their cabin...  
  
Reality hit when she rounded the corner and saw him sprawled on the couch   
watching television, a bowl of popcorn precariously balanced on his T-shirt clad   
abdomen.  
  
"Tom!"  
  
"Geez, you startled me," he said reproachfully, and attempted to stuff some of   
the fluffy white kernels back into the bowl. He picked up the beer can from the   
coffee table, shook it to assure himself there was still some left, and took a   
long pull. He glanced over to where she stood in the doorway, her arms folded   
across her chest. "What?"  
  
"What? You have the nerve to ask me what? This is the first time in *weeks*   
we've both been off duty at the same time and I come back to find you watching   
television!"  
  
"Well, what's wrong with that?" he asked defensively. "We hadn't made any   
plans--in fact, I thought you'd be pretty tired after all those double shifts in   
engineering, that you'd appreciate the chance to just kick back and relax for a   
change."  
  
She shook her head. "Now why do I get the feeling that this is what you'd be   
doing even if I was still on duty?"  
  
Tom smiled, and patted the couch next to him. "Harry isn't as much fun to   
snuggle with, and Miral likes to hog the remote control." He looked at her   
expectantly. "Come on, Be, does everything have to be a big production? When's   
the last time we had the chance to spend some free time together?"  
  
"It's been too long," she conceded, "But still, this isn't exactly what I had in   
mind..." She gave up and sat down next to him. "What're you watching?"  
  
He flashed her a grin. "Star Journey: Adventure."  
  
B'Elanna sat bolt upright, dislodging his arm. "You're kidding. That awful   
tripe?"  
  
"Hey!" he protested. "What's wrong with it?"  
  
"Correct me if I'm wrong," she said, "But didn't you swear after the last   
episode that you were never going to watch it again? Didn't you say that the   
show's creators had totally negated and contradicted everything they'd been   
striving for in the early shows and had gone off in a completely implausible   
direction?"  
  
He waved her protests away. "That was before. Now the show's been taken over by   
new management, whose stated goal was to restore things to the same high level   
they were before."  
  
B'Elanna tried, and failed, to suppress a snort. "But this is still television   
we're talking about, right?"  
  
"Shh! It's starting!"  
  
"Of course," B'Elanna said, the barest trace of sarcasm in her voice, "You don't   
want to miss a minute of the continuing adventures of the intrepid woman   
captain, her most deadly adversary now turned loyal supporter, the dashing young   
pilot eager to prove himself..."  
  
"...and the feisty yet brilliant engineer who manages to come up with a new   
technological marvel each and every week," said Tom, his eyes on the screen.   
Then, "Oh, rats."  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"It's a repeat," Tom said, disappointment evident in his voice. "After all that,   
it's one we've already seen."  
  
"Oh, well," B'Elanna said, "Isn't that just too bad? But what can you do?" She   
mentally held her breath.  
  
Tom was silent for a moment. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He looked over at his   
wife. "I don't suppose you'd like to watch it anyway? This one was pretty good,   
about the time the captain and the pilot de-evolved into..." He ducked to avoid   
the barrage of couch pillows. "I was kidding! Honest, B'Elanna, I was only   
kidding!"  
  
  
  
  
Next: Ripples in TimeWhen things become routine... 


End file.
